Confectionery-machine.



No. 774,204. PATENTED NOV. 8, 1904.

- W. s. SAMPSON.

GONFECTIONERY MACHINE; APPLICATION FILED JULY 25, 1904.

N0 MODEL. 5 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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No. 774,204. PATENTED NOV. 8, 1904. W. S. SAMPSON. GONPBCTIONERYMACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 26, 1904. H0 MODEL. 5 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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W. S. SAMPSON.

GONFEGTIONERY MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 26, 1904.

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Z0 name-a:

No. 774,204. PATENTED NOV. 8, 1904. W. s. SAMPSON.

GONPEGTIONERY MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 25, 1904.

N0 MODEL. BBHEETS-SHEET 4.

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PATENTED NOV. 8, 1904.

" W. s. SAMPSON.

GONPEOTIONERY MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 25, 1904,

' 5 SHBETS-SHEBT 5.

N0 MODEL.

Patented November 8, 1904.

PATENT @FFIQE.

IVALTER S. SAMPSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

CONFECTlONERY-IVIACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 774,204, dated November'8, 1904. Application filed July 25, 1904. Serial No. 217,980. (Nomodel.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, IVALTER S. SAMPSON, a citizen of the United States,residing at the city of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State ofIllinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement inConfectionery- Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to confectionery-machines adapted to operate uponviscous or semifiuid material, such as that commonly known asmarshmallow.

The general object of the invention is to provide a machine of simpleand durable construction, readily adjustable, so as to deliver large orsmall drops clean cut and free from threads or filaments. In obtainingthis object novel details of construction are provided, which will bepointed out more fully in the following description and claims.

I attain my objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, 'in which- Figure 1 is a general side view of the machine.Fig. 2 is a general end view thereof looking from the right side ofFig. 1. Fig. 3 is a side view of the machine similar to Fig. 1, exceptthat in Fig. 1 the plunger-frame is shown raised in what will be termedthe first position, while in Fig. 3 said frame is shown in full linespartially lowered in what will be termed the second position, and indotted lines in what will be termed the third position. Fig. I is a planview. Fig. 5 is an end view of the machine similar to Fig. 2, butillustrating the parts in the position shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 6 is an endview of the machine looking from the left side of Fig. 1. i Fig. 7 is afragmentary detail view in perspective, showing the adjustable seatwhereby the size of the drops may be regulated. Fig. 8 is a fragmentaryplan View of the main gear-Wheel at the right end of the machinethat is,the end shown in Fig. 5. Figs. 9, l0, and 11 are diagrammatic viewstaken in vertical section through the tank and represent the first,second, and third positions, respectively, of the plungers. Fig. 12 is afragmentaryjplan View for illustrating the relative positions of thegate, trip-lever, and adjacent parts.

Similar reference characters denote similar parts throughout the severalviews.

The main frame a is of any suitable construction and forms a support forthe tank 5 and the operating parts of the machine. Said tank is adaptedto contain the supply of semifluid mass termed marshmallow, from whichthe confectionery-drops are to be made. WVithin the tank is a cross-headc, which is adapted to move vertically by means hereinafter to bedescribed and carries the plungers c c, which are adapted to enter thevertically-arranged apertures (Z, in the tank-bottom d.

Beneath the tank-bottom are two plates 6 and f, having therein ports 6and f, respectively, which are permanently arranged in line withtheapertures (Z for permitting the delivery of marshmallow from thetank. Said plates 6 and f form false bottoms to the tank, and, ifdesired, the upper plate a may be omitted, although its presence isadvantageous to facilitate manufacture. Between plates 0 and f isarranged a sliding cut-off or gate 9, having therein the ports g, whichare so arranged that they may be brought into or out of register withthe ports 6 f.

In the present machine gate g is moved toward the left to close portsand f by means of the link [2,, connected to the lever it, and is movedtoward the right to open said ports by means of the link z', connectedto the lever @I. Said links and levers are on opposite sides of themachine and are fulcrumed in the bearings a a in the main framework at.Lever h is connected to lever 7 by means of a turnbuckle y" or otheradjustable device, and similarly lever c" is connected to lever in bymeans of a link 75. Levers j and is are fulcrumed at the points 7' andrespectively, on the main frame a and are operated by the knobs or lugsm a, respectively, on the wheels m and n.'

heels m and 92 are mounted upon the shaft 0, journaled in the bearings(0 and'are rotated by means of the pinions m if, respectively, on theshaft m Shaft m is rotated by means of the pulley on. The precise mannerof rotating Wheels on and n is not essential, and any constructionwhereby sa1d wheels may be made to rotate together as a single piece maybe substituted.

A clutch 7) is provided for the purpose of enabling the pulley on to bethrown into and out of operative connection with shaft m so that themachine may be stopped or started at will, although the pulley rotatescontinuously. p affords means for operating clutch 7) from the front ofthe machine. The relation of gear-wheels m and a and levers j and Z: issuch that gate Q will normally be held in closed position, as shown inFig. 9, but will be opened at the proper time for a suitable periodwhile the plungers c are descending.

The cross-head 0, above mentioned, is attached to the cross-head frame9* by means of the rods 7', and said frame is raised and lowered bymeans of the link 0"", attached to the levers 0- outside of the tank.Said levers 9' are fulcrumed at the points preferably at one edge of thetank, and,if desirable,in order that the frame) may be guided in itsrise and fall it is supplied with upright guide-pieces 9- slidingbeneath the clips or keepers WGVS at the edges of the tank. Thearrangement of the parts is such that the raising and lowering of levero about its fulcrum r" will cause a corresponding raising and loweringof the plungers c.

The free or swinging extremities of levers are connected by means of thecrosspiece v", and to said cross-piece are pivotally connected,preferably near the central portion thereof, the links a and t. Thelower extemity of link s is pivoted to the lever 11., which in turn isfulcrumed on the framework rt at the point a. i

A pin or lug a" is formed upon the side of gear-wheel m in such positionthat when the gear is rotated in the direction of the arrows adjacentthereto, Figs. 2 and 5, the movement of said lug will first engage saidlever 16 to raise the same and then disengage it and permit it to drop.The rotation of wheel m therefore operates first to gradually raise theplunger-frame 1- and then suddenly drop the same. The highest positionof the plungerframe and plungers may appropriately be considered thefirst position in the program of operation of the machine.

The link i, above mentioned, is pivoted at its lower extremity to thearresting-bare, which is fulcrumed on the machine-frame a at the pointo. It is obvious that the plunger-frame 1- may be supported from eitherthelever a or bar w and that after the lug if has disengaged the lever athe frame will drop until it is again arrested by contact with somestationary part. The arresting of the'downward movement of theplunger-frame '1 is accomplished by means of a seat-rod '11:, (shown inperspective in Fig. 7,) which has a laterally-extending projection orshoulder w, constituting a'seat adapted to arrest the downward movementof the bar 11.

A controlling-rod 22, having an arm 5 For reasons hereinafter appearingbar w is arrested by seat 01/ when in an intermediate position, whichmay be termed the second position and which is illustrated in Fig. 10.

The plungers are permitted to descend to the third position (illustratedin Fig. 11) by withdrawing the seat in from its position beneath thearresting-bar w in a manner now to be described. its upper extremity toa sleeve or collar "10 which is vertically slidable upon the stationarypost Said post contains one or more vertical rows of apertures 00,adapted to receive pins 'w" for the purpose of retaining collar 10 inany desired position upon post A keeper m is rigidly secured at the sideof post 11, the object being to control the path of the arresting-bar wand cause it to travel along the edge of post on, where it will tend tostrike seat w when the latter is in normal position. A spring w" isrigidly attached to collar 10 and so arranged as to act against the edgeof bar w, so as to tend to hold the same in such position that the seat'21: will be in the path of travel of the arresting-bar.

The rod w is trippedthat is to say, swung in a direction to withdrawseat in from its position beneath the arresting-bar by means oftrip-lever 7 (Shown in Figs. 4:, 7, and 12.) Said trip-lever is pivotedto the frame a, at the point y, so as to swing, in the present instance,in a horizontal plane. Said trip-lever is pivoted to and operated bylink it, as shown in Figs. 9 and 10, and the parts are so related thatwhen gate 9 moves to the right, Figs. 9, 10, and 11, to open the portsthe lever 1 and seat-rod 10 will be simultaneously moved to the right towithdraw seat w, and thereby permit bar 0 and the plungers c to drop tothe third or final position. (Illustrated in Fig. 11.) Inasmuch astrip-leverg is positively connected to gate it follows that the finaldropping of the plungers and the opening of the ports will occursimultaneously, as is necessary for the proper operation of the machine.

Underneath the tank is a mold-table a, which is guided so as to move ina vertical direction by means of the stationary ways .2, which form partof the framework of the machine. Said table is adapted to supporta-mold-pan .2, containing starch or other materiahin which the drops areto be molded. The table 2 is moved vertically by means of the cams 1 1,rigidly secured to the shaft 2 and adapted to cooperate with thecam-rollers 3 3 on the bottom of the table Shaft 2 is operated fromshaft 0 by means of a chain 4, connecting sprockets 5 and 6 on shafts 2and 0, respectively, the object in employing chain-andsprocketconnections between the two shafts being to insure the simultaneous andequal rotation thereof.

This machine is intended to operate upon material of a semifiuid natureand is not intended to operate upon material which is very Bed w ispivotally attached at M fluid nor upon material which is not fluid oronly fluid to a slight extent. The material which is best adapted andmost suitable for manufacture by this machine is of a consistencyapproximately equal to that of marshmallow in the state in which themarshmallows of commerce are usually manufactured. If the material istoo thin and flows too readily, it will run out too quickly when theports in the bottom of the tank are open, and, on the other hand, if thematerial is too thick and pasty it will not flow into the apertures 62quickly enough to completely fill them when the machine is running up tospeed.

In operation the tank 6 is filled with marshmallow and the machine isbrought to the first position, as shown in Figs. 1 and 9, with theplungers c at their highest point and the ports in plates 6 and f closedby gate 9. As here shown, the gate when closed occupies a positiontoward the left, as in Fig. 9. Upon rotation of wheel m in the directionshown by the arrows, Figs. 2 and 5, the lug 7.6 will rotate out ofengagement with lever u, thereby permitting the plunger-frame 7* to dropuntil the arresting-bar q: strikes the seat to on rod Q0 and theplungers reach second position, Fig. 10. The plungers c are arrested byseat we at a point above the tank-bottom (Z; but the point of stoppagemay be raised or lowered by adjusting the rod 10 and sleeve 1/1vertically upon the post a, it being obvious that the higher theposition of rod w the higher will be the point of arrestation of theplungers. lVhile the plungers are elevated above position 2, themarshmallow will be slowly fiowing into and filling the apertures d inthe tank-bottom (Z, and the amount of material entering said aperturesprior to the time when further entrance is prevented by reason of theproximity of the plungers to said apertures will depend upon thefluidity of the material and the point at which the plungers arearrested and will also depend upon the period elapsing between the timewhen the plungers leave the apertures on their upward movement and thetime when they reach position 2 on the downward movement. If the pointof arrestation is high above the top of apertures (Z, the marshmallowwill have sufficient opportunity to completely fill the apertures; butif the point of arrestation is closer to the apertures complete fillingthereof will be prevented and a smaller amount of marshmallow will bedelivered. The amount of marshmallow delivered, therefore, will depend(with a given speed of operation and consistency of material) upon theadjusted position of collar 10 on post After the plungers have beentemporarily arrested at the second position the continued rotation ofwheel 722 will bring lug n, Fig. 6, into contact with lever to raise thesame, and the raising of said lever will cause lever 2" to be rotated inan anticlockwise direction when viewed as in Fig. 10, which rotationwill force link i and gate 9 toward the right to open the ports 6 and fat the bottom of the tank. Simultaneously the gate will move thetrip-lever y and cause the same to swing setting-rod w in position torelease bar o. This will permit bar o .and the plungers andplunger-frame to fall to the third and lowest position, as illustratedin Fig. 11. This lowering of the plungers from the second to the thirdposition will cause the plungers to force the marshmallow out throughthe ports and deliver it into the mold in the mold-pan The furtherrotation-of wheels m and n will bring lug a on wheel a, Fig. 5, intocontact with lever 21 to raise the same and rotate lever j in aclockwise direction, Fig. 10. This will cause the gate g to slide towardthe left to close the ports, which will prevent the further delivery ofthe marshmallow. This return movement of the gate g will retract thetrip-lever y and permit spring 10* to throw rod w back into normalposition to arrest bar 2; in the subsequent downward movement thereof.

During the above-described movement of the gate and plungers the table 2is raised and lowered by the cams 1, and the time of operation is suchthat the table will be in its highest position, so as to bring themold-pan 2 into close proximity to the discharge-ports during the timewhen said ports are open. As soon as said ports are closed, however, thetable 2 moves downward, thereby breaking any threads or filaments whichmay remain between the marshmallow in the molds and that which mayadhere to the discharge-ports. hen the table has dropped sufficiently.the operator removes the filled mold-pan and supplies a fresh one, andthe operation is repeated.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. A confectionery-machine having a tank; vertically-reciprocatingplungers; a bar pivoted at a fixed point in the machine and connected tothe plungers for supporting the same; and a seat for temporarilyarresting said bar intermediate of the extremities of its swing.

2. A confectionery-machine having a tank; vertically-reciprocatingplungers; an arresting-bar for temporarily supporting said plungers; anda vertically-adjustable seat for temporarily supporting said bar.

3. In a confectionery-machine, the combination, with a tank, havingports in the bottom thereof and vertically-reciprocating plungers, of anarresting-bar for temporarily supporting said plungers; a seat forsupporting said bar; a gate for controlling the tank-ports and means foropening said gate and simultaneously moving said seat to release saidarresting-bar. I

4. In a confectionery-machine, thecombination with a tank having portsin the bottom thereof and vertically-reciprocating plungers, of anarresting-bar for temporarily supporting said plungers; a swingingseat-rod for temporarily supporting said. arresting-rod, a gate forcontrolling the tank-ports and means for opening said gate andsimultaneously swinging said seat-rod out of engagement with saidarresting-rod.

5. In a confectionery-machine, the combination, with a tank having portsin the bottom thereof and vertically-reciprocating plungers, of anarresting-bar for temporarily supporting said plungers; a swingingseat-rod for temporarily supporting said arresting-bar; a spring fornormally holding said seat-rod in position to engage said arresting-bar;a gate for controlling the tank-ports; and means for opening said gateand simultaneously swinging said seat-rod against the influence of saidspring to release said arresting-bar.

6. In a confectionery-machinc, the combination of a tank havingdischarge-ports in the bottom thereof; vertically-arranged reciprocatingplungers; a plunger-frame carrying said plungers; an arresting-bar fortemporarily supporting said frame at a point part way down in itsdescent; a movable seat for temporarily supporting said arresting-bar;and a trip-lever operating said seat to release said arresting-bar; agate for controlling the tankports, said trip-lever being connected tosaid gate whereby the movement of said gate and seat are definitelycorrelated.

7. In a confectioncry-machine, the combination of a tank havingdischarge-ports in the bottom thereof, vertically-reciprocatingplungers; a plunger-frame carrying said plungers; an arresting-bar fortemporarily supporting said frame at a point part way down in itsdescent; a movable seat for temporarily supporting said arresting-bar; aspring for normally holding said seat in the path of the arresting-barfor stopping the same; a trip lever for operating said seat to releasesaid arresting'bar; a sliding gate connected to said trip-lever foroperating the same and also controlling the tank-ports, the movement ofsaid gate in one direction operating said trip-lever to release thearresting-bar and the movement of said gate in the opposite directionwithdrawing said trip-bar to thereby permit said spring to return theseat to normal position.

8. In a confectionery-machine, the combination of a tank havingdischarge-ports in the bottom thereof; vertically-reciprocatingplungers; an arresting-bar for temporarily supporting said plungers partway in their descent; a seat-rod for temporarily supporting saidarresting-bar; a post for carrying said seat-rod; and means foradjusting said seat-rod vertically upon said post for varying the pointat which the plungers are temporarily arrested during their downwardtravel.

9. In a confectionery-machine, the combination ofatankhavingdischarge-ports therein; vertically-reciprocating plungers; asliding gate for controlling the tank-ports; an opening-lever and aclosing-lever connected to said gate for operating the same; and twowheels each having lugs thereon for respectively operating said levers;and means for causing said wheels to rotate simultaneously and maintainthe same relative positions.

10. In a confectionery-machine, the combination of a tank havingdischarge-ports there in; vertically-reciprocating plungers; a slidinggate for controlling the tank-ports; an opening-lever 21 for moving thegate to open position; a lever 7:: for operating said opening lever;means for operating said lever A; a closing-lever 72 for moving saidgate to closed position; a lever 7' for operating said closinglever; andtwo rotating members rigidly connected together and adapted to operatesaid levers j and Z: alternately.

11. In a confectionery-machine, the combination of a tank havingdischarge-apertures therein; vertically reciprocating gravityloweredplungers; a plunger-frame carrying said plungers; a wheel for raisingsaid frame; an arresting-seat; means for operating the same; and twopivoted bars '11, and o connected to said frame and each capable ofsupporting the same, one of said bars being operated by said wheel toraise said frame and the other of said bars being adapted to resttemporarily upon said seat for temporarily sustaining the plunger-frameat a point above the lowest point of its travel.

12. In a eonfectionery-machine, the combination of a tank having portsin the bottom thereof vertical]y-reciprocating plungers; a gate forcontrolling the tank-ports; a vertically-reciprocating table forcarrying a moldpan beneath the tank; and positive unyielding connectionsbetween said gate plungers and mold-table whereby the times of operationof said plungers, gate and table are rendered definitely relative.

13. In a confectionery-machine, the combination of a tank having portsin the bottom. thereof, vertically-reciprocating plungers; a gate forcontrolling the tank-ports; a vertically-reciprocating table forcarrying amoldpan beneath the tank; cams for raising and lowering themold-table; and positive unyielding connections between said cams, gateand plungers whereby the times of operation of said mold-table, gate andplungers are rendered definitely relative.

In witness whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name in the presence oftwo witnesses.

WALTER S. SAMPSON. \Vitnesses:

HOWARD M. Cox, J. I. MCDONALD.

